Women and men have been wearing lipstick for thousands of years though the makeup-bag staple has evolved a lot since ancient times. While makeup trends are constantly changing from time to time, there’s an obvious trend that permeates each decade.
The history of lipstick is no different. Popular lipstick shades have often been a direct result of cultural climate, historical events, and rebellion times when women felt free and liberated or oppressively structured. We dug through some research to pull together a list of the most mind-blowing, facts about lipstick.
1:
In the Roman Empire, both men and women wore lipstick as a display of wealth; only upper classes could afford lip paint made with dangerous mercury that came in fashionable shades of merlot and purple.
2:
The first lipstick for commercial sale was made in 1884 by the French brand Guerlain. Interestingly, the same brand now holds the record for making the most expensive lipstick in the world their KissKiss Gold and Diamonds Lipstick, which has 199 diamonds embedded in the case and costs around rupees 42 lakhs!
4; While all other cosmetics were rationed in Great Britain during WWII, lipstick was kept in production because Winston Churchill felt it boosted morale.
5; Lipstick was invented by the ancient Sumerians. The civilisation’s men and women alike crushed stones to decorate their eyes and lips with colour over a base of white lead. Ouch! 6:
Hazel Bishop, developed a formula for long-lasting lipstick while working in a dermatologist’s lab after WWII and this lipstick has been known to be one lipstick that won’t kiss and tell.
3; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and other early feminists painted their lips as a symbol of emancipation when they marched in the 1912 NYC Suffragette rally.